Parking garage



March 17, 1953 H. HORNICK PARKING GARAGE 2 SI-EET S-SHEET 1 Filed May 24, 1950 H. HORNICK PARKING GARAGE March 17, 1953 Filed May 24, 1950 2 SHEETSSl-1EET 2 yflowreys.

i Q A \H J JIG f U T m v Q A r Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE 'PARKING GARAGE Hugo Hornickfihicago, .111. LAppIica'tion MayL'M, 1950, Serial.No..163,886

' My "invention "relates to a parking garage in jwhich "all movement is unobstructed "by t'ra'fiic in cross orbpposite directions "50 as to insure prompt entrance, parking and exit.

Among the objects of my invention is to-providea'parkinggaragebuilt inthe form of a spiral -ramp With -an inner driveway leading from the entrance to the parking spacea a'cen- "tralportiondivided up into crosswise parking parking space.

- Another object 'is"to"providela parking garage withmaximrmr "s eed in entrance, parking "and .exi'tiwith a minimum staff required for operation. I My "invention also contemplates such other objects, advantages and capabilitieswhich will later more fully appear, and which are inherently possessed by my invention.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings preferred embodiments of my invention, yet it is to be understood that the same are susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevational view partially broken away to show the entrance and exit; Fig. 2' is a broken plan view of the same in smaller scale; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the ramp; Fig. 4 is a top plan view of another embodiment broken away to show the exit; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the turntable; Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing the parking arrangement; and Fig. 7 is a detailed sectional view of the turntable.

Referring more now to my invention, I provied a spiral ramp I supported by a plurality of spaced round pillars II. The ramp and the pillars are preferably formed of cement. The spiral ramp is divided transversely into three portions. The inner portion I2 leads from the entrance I3 and is the driveway on which the cars enter for parking. The adjacent portion of the ramp is the parking area I4 divided up into a plurality of parking spaces. On the other side of the parking area I4 is'the outer driveway I on which cars leave the parking spaces and move out the exit I6.

Such arrangement permits the driver to drive in, park his own car and when ready, drive out.

parking space, and

The driver meets no cross traflic nor any oncoming traffic. He drives in, makes a quarter "right and drives "down 'the exit being all that is elevators I1 2 turn to theright to park. When"he is ready to leave, 'hemakes another quarter'turn' to the theramp and -'out the exit. Only a minimum of help is'necessar'y'with a serviceman'at the entrance and another at needed. Apluralit'yof self-operated electrically driven are spaced-so thatone of the elevat'or's is near each 'parkin'g space. 'When'the driver has'p'arked his'car, hemay'descend by the nearest elevator. When'the "driver returns, he may use thesame' elevator'to reachthe level on which his car isparked.

In another "embodiment or my invention, I provide driveway I2 with a turntable It opposite each parking space in area I4. At"the forward position of each turntable I8 area pair of stop pins I9. When a parking space in area 54 is not occupied, the turntable Iaadjoining this unoccupied space has its approaches ready to receive the'wheels of a car, and stop pins I9 extend above the floor of driveway I2. The driver drives his car until its front wheels contact stop pins I9. This sets up an electrical contact which operates turntable I8 and moves it and the car on it a quarter turn to the right and stops. The driver then drives the car into the parking space in area I4 and leaves the car until he returns to it. The driver then makes a right quarter turn and moves down outer portion I5 of ramp I!) out exit I6.

When turntable I8 turns upon contact of the wheels against stop pins I9, the stop pins move downwardly in holes 20 in the floor of turntable I8 until they are substantially even with the floor of the turntable. This permits the parked car to drive past this point to the exit driveway I5. When a driver drives his car out of the parking space, an electrical contact switch in the parking space operates to turn the turntable I8 a quarter turn to the left back to its first position. At the same time, the electrical contact raises the stop pins I9 to upright position.

It is within the contemplation of my invention that turntable I8 and stop pins I9 may be manually operable, but I prefer to have them operate electrically.

In operation of my parking garage, a driver on entering at the entrance, receives a parking ticket from an attendant. This attendant consults a light signal information board which which is identified by a green light overhead in the ceiling. The driver then proceeds until his front wheels contact the stop pins, as heretofore described.

In the event that my spiral ramp exceeds four circles in height, I provide an entrance elevator and an exit elevator for the cars for every four circles. The entrance elevator 2| is built at the inner part of the garage to communicate with the fifth circle of driveway l2, and the exit elevator 22 is built at the outer part of the garage to communicate with the fifth circle of outer driveway [5.

When a car is leaving, it stops at the exit and the attendant there takes up the ticket, figures out the time charge and receives payment from the driver.

The empty center space may be utilized for a warehouse with a central freight elevator and an adjacent entrance on one side and an exit on the other side.

While my spiral ramp is formed preferably in circular form, yet it may be oval or even angular and still be within the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

A spiral parking garage having an entrance and an exit and comprising a plurality of spaced supports, a single wide spiral ramp mounted on said supports, said ramp having an inner entrance driveway communicating with the entrance to the garage, and an outer exit driveway communicating with the exit to the garage,

and a parking area between said inner entrance driveway and said outer exit driveway, said parking area divided into a plurality of parking spaces transverse to said driveways, a plu-.

rality of turntables positioned on and extending down Within said inner entrance driveway, said turntables spaced so that a turntable is positionedadjacent each parking space, a motor and an electrical circuit connected to an 4 electrical power source and attached to said turntables, a pair of stop pins movably mounted in each of said turntables, said stop pins adapted to be in upright position when the adjacent parking space is not occupied by a car, said upright stop pins upon being contacted by the front wheels of a car driven on the turntable on the inner entrance driveway adapted to close said electrical circuit to move the turntable a quarter turn to the right so that the car thereon faces the adjacent parking space, said stop pins just contacted adapted to drop Within openings in the inner entrance driveway to substantially level with the inner entrance driveway to permit the car to pass therebeyond to the adjacent parking space, said adjacent parking space adapted to receive the car driven thereon, and said outer exit driveway adapted to receive cars turned substantially at right angles thereon from said parking spaces and to permit said cars to be driven spirally downwardly thereon to the exit of the garage, and electrically operated contacts positioned in each of said parking spaces and adapted upon a car leaving the parking space to close the electrical circuit to turn the adjacent turntable a quarter turn to the left and move its stop pins to upright position.

HUGO I-IORNICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,253,864 Muira Jan. 15, 1918 1,512,640 Rump Oct. 21, 1924 1,538,341 Lancaster et a1. May. 19, 1925 1,683,937 White Sept. 11, 1928 1,797,325 Chaudoir Mar. 24, 1931 

